the brunch was for eight people plus three kids. i always used to struggle with the amount of food to make for many people. it’s every time the same procedure: i remember that there were lots of leftovers last time, so i plan cautiously. then i panic that it might be not enough – so i add some more. and get lots of leftovers. but not this time! i almost don’t dare to say it, but i really sat down with a calculator adding up the weight of all the ingredients and divided the sum by the number of people. for every dish. and it worked – i think i was as close to the ideal amount of food as possible. everybody ate her fill, it was enough to nibble for about two hours and almost nothing was left.

such a variety of dishes takes a bit of planning in advance, to make sure that everything is ready at the right time, has the right temperature and the cook is not totally exhausted. so here is what i did:

a few days in advance

make empanadas, store in the freezer

the night before(in the following order)

make fruit jelly, distribute in dessert glasses and put in the fridge to chill